


Stubborn Light

by ZeldaandFairies



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Inner Dialogue, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29639643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZeldaandFairies/pseuds/ZeldaandFairies
Summary: Zelda goes solo for her first adventure and it isn't as easy as she imagined it would be.
Kudos: 1





	Stubborn Light

Hollow splatters echoed against Zelda’s ears as her hood took the brunt of the cold Hyrule rain. Tugging the fabric closer around her, she made sure not to disturb the part of the cape that sat beneath her, protecting her from the mud.

Her brows furrowed; she wished she were able to find some better form of cover, perhaps a cave or a hollowed out tree. She had settled for a willow, its slouched branches providing some shade but allowing stray droplets to frustrate her.

She hadn’t prepared for this type of weather. What was supposed to be in her mind, a short trip to Kakariko resulted in what has been hours of struggles.

She had decided to leave her usual entourage behind, waving off the warnings her father had given her in the past about leaving the castle alone. Deciding that she didn’t want to create a fuss, Zelda left on her own at dawn. She didn’t think it would be difficult but she realized she had taken her knights for granted when Bokoblins threatened her approach and she had no weapons. She was lucky to have watched others distract them before with food but that left her with very low provisions. Her stomach rumbled and she frowned realizing she lacked any sort of instinct for self-preservation.

When the fog rolled in earlier she knew this could mean trouble but not anything quite this cumbersome. This journey seemed to have hiccups at every step that she could barely fathom.

Zelda shivered as thunder erupted, her hands flying up to cover her ears a moment too late. It seemed the eye of the storm was overhead. She began to count the time between the light and the sound praying she was wrong but she hadn’t even gotten the chance to say “two” before a tree was struck across from her. Her eyes adjusted to the sudden bright inferno and her breathing faltered for a moment as she struggled to understand what she was seeing. She wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light or if she was just paranoid, but she swore the tree was moving unnaturally.

_Is it… swaying?_

Suddenly the weight of the tree gave way with a large crack before beginning to fall in a blaze towards her. Zelda let out a large shriek as the heat grew closer and shut her eyes tightly in panic. She grimaced as she realized her father was right and cursed her stubbornness for not asking for help. The tree was falling too fast for her to utter enough words of prayer.

She cried out in pain as her hood was roughly lurched to the right, her body following fast behind it. Her hands reached up to grasp the area around her neck to save her from being strangled. Zelda was being dragged across the forest floor, her body moving more easily now that she had the cape in her hands. The tree landed hard, the ground vibrating with the impact. A branch struck her feet and she quickly pulled her legs up to escape the burn. The mud calmed the rest of the inferno and she breathed a huge side of relief before looking towards her savior still pulling her and registered a low sound she was hearing.

Before her eyes was a large snarling gray wolf with her hood trapped in its giant jaw. Its eyes were so familiar but its teeth so terrifyingly she couldn’t help but gasp before letting out a blood-curdling scream. Though this wolf had saved her life, this now seemed inadvertent; she was in its claws, she was its prey. It was enough needing to worry about her next meal, let alone _becoming_ one.

“Din! Farore! Nayru! Hylia!” She screamed, begging a Goddess, _any Goddess_ , to save her as tears began to stream down her face. She promised herself she’d never be so impulsive again and that she’d thank every single one of her knights. She promised she’d be more careful and talk to her father more often. She begged for her life with every single ounce of faith in her.

And then- aside from the storm and crackle of the fallen tree, all was silent.

When she looked up to face death she realized she was alone. The wolf had left her, a sobbing heap on the muddied ground. She tried to calm the heaves in her body as she realized that she had survived but found it difficult. She had been thoroughly frightened, but she had been saved. Her prayers had been heard.

Zelda was alive.

After a few more huffs and moments of self-pity, she swallowed back the rest of her tears and carefully stood. Her ankle had a bit of a blister forming and she was covered in scrapes but this was the worst of it. She didn’t even pay mind to the new rips in her cape. She got through this trial virtually unharmed.

After a few deep breaths and a surge of forced confidence, Zelda decided to keep moving despite the storm. It could last hours but Kakariko was only a half hour away if she pushed through. From there she could ask Chief Renado for assistance back to the castle.

Until then, she’d put on a brave face and stick by her decision to go it alone. But after the catastrophe she just survived she knew, through some force outside of her own, she would be safe on this journey. That wolf was sent by the Goddess, that wolf was her guardian. She had ultimate faith in this.

“Thank you, Goddess,” she said out loud before beginning the end of her journey.

The wolf hidden in the trees suppressed a sigh before following in the shadows behind her.


End file.
